Supported Remote Control Devices

Media Center Edition (MCE) Remote Control and Keyboard

Microsoft sells an IR based Remote Control and Keyboard that is for use with XP Media Center Edition and Vista. JR Media Center supports these devices natively once the drivers are installed (with the exception of a few dedicated MCE buttons). While the drivers will install automatically in Vista when you plug in the USB IR Controller, on XP you will need to install a particular MS Hot Patch (WindowsXP-KB912024-v2-x86-ENU - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=B39D53F1-0AC9-433B-B488-4CAB82F31DC8&displaylang=en ) first.

NOTE: One trick is the MS Keyboard/RC use a "debounce" feature that you need to turn off in the registry if you are going to program a third party universal remote control as each key press on the MCE Remote / K'B sends alternative IR signals to prevent so called IR bounce. You can turn this off inside Windows Media Center on Vista or search in the registry for "debounce" and toggle the value.

USB UIRT

This is an IR receiver similar to the IRMan except it uses a USB connection to your computer instead of serial. You can purchase this device at http://www.usbuirt.com/.

See the Install a Remote Control Plugin section for instructions on installing the USB UIRT plugin.

To configure USB UIRT:

1. Go to Tools > Options > Remote Control, select "IRMAN" if it isn't already selected. If it's not running, click the Start button.
2. Select the Configure button. You can now set up your remote control so it's buttons will map to Media Center functions.
3. Press the Learn button. The learning dialog opens. It contains a list of Media Center commands.
4. Click on a command one at a time and press the button on your remote to correspond to that command, or you can use the Auto Advance checkbox, which starts at the top and moves down the list as you press the corresponding buttons. If you want to skip a command, simply click the mouse on the next command in the list that you want to learn. When you are finished "learning", press the Done button.
5. Media Center is now ready to respond to button presses on your remote control.

You can use the "Clear" command to clear all learned commands for the remote control. This allows you to start from scratch.

The Add/Delete/Modify button allows you to edit the list of Media Center commands. If you find that a single button press on your remote results in two or more commands getting sent to Media Center, increase the value for "Anti-repeat time". On the other hand, if you find that Media Center has too long a delay before responding to multiple button presses, try decreasing the value. The value is in milliseconds and the default is 250 (1/4 of a second).

Girder

For information on Girder, see http://www.girder.nl/. For the configuration file, go to C:\Program Files\ J River\Media Center 11\Data\Extras\Girder.

IRMan

This product is no longer available

This is a universal infrared receiver device that plugs into a serial port on your computer. It is compatible with almost all infrared remote controls. You can probably setup your existing TV/VCR or Stereo remote control to work with this receiver.

Configuration follows the same procedure as for the USB UIRT device.

X10 "MP3 Anywhere" and "MouseRemote"

This product is no longer available

These are radio frequency receivers that plug into a serial port on your computer and come with a multi-function remote control. The plug-in comes pre-configured to map the remote's buttons to Media Center functions. You can purchase these at the X10 website.

To configure MP3 Anywhere and MouseRemote:

1. See Install a Remote-Control Plug-In for instructions on downloading an X10 plugin.
2. Go to Tools > Options > Remote Control and select the new plugin from the drop-down box.
3. The correct COM port must be chosen in order for the plug-in to function. The default is COM1. To select another, click the Configure button.
4. To see which buttons correspond to which program functions, click the Help button on the configuration dialog. These remotes have both IR and RF transmitters on board. Press the "PC" button to make sure they are in RF mode when you are using them.

Note: the MouseRemote receiver may take up to 20 seconds to start responding after being started. When it's ready you'll see the small red light blink for each button press on the remote.